World Toilet Day!

November 27, 2013

Here at My Cleaning Service, we try to celebrate all things cleaning related. Bathroom humor is part of everyday conversations, our birthday and Christmas cards usually involve a cleaning joke; we even had a Halloween toilet paper bowling competition! So naturally when I heard about World Toilet Day, I had to get us a toilet cake! In our staff meeting I was so proud of the cake sitting in the middle of the conference table in all of its glory. My staff looked at me like I was crazy, and I realized, they didn’t know what World Toilet day was!

Toilet Cake for Celebrating World Toilet Day

As I told my friends about the day’s events, I realized most people felt the same way as my staff. One of my friends said, “Ok, so what did you donate?” When she said that, it occurred to me that she didn’t understand. You see, anyone can donate money to a cause and move on with their life, but I wanted to raise awareness. Money is great too, but I wanted people within my company to appreciate how lucky we are to have toilets to clean!

If you have the same look on your face that my staff looked at me with, let me enlighten you.

World Toilet Day is a United Nations recognized event, observed annually on November 19. This international day of action aims to break the taboo around toilets and draw much-needed attention to the global sanitation challenge.

Believe it or not, 2.5 billion people in the world do not have access to a clean and safe toilet. It amazes me that we, service professionals in the janitorial industry, are not aware of this incredible statistic.

As part of our staff meeting, one staff member brought in facts about World Toilet Day printed on toilet paper, and we each read one aloud:

“The humble toilet can be a stepping stone to a healthier life, greater human dignity, freedom, equality between women, men, girls and boys; and finally, a catalyst to the development of communities and countries.”

“Toilets are a symbol of better health, higher income, more education, higher social status and a cleaner living environment.”

“There is a strong link between the absence of good sanitation and poverty. North America and Europe experienced economic growth coinciding with significant improvements in sanitation. This resulted in better health for individuals and increased labor productivity.”

“Illnesses that are a direct result of bad sanitation affect the quality of life of millions of people around the world, especially children. Diarrheal diseases are the second most common cause of death of young children in developing countries – killing more children than HIV/AIDS, malaria and measles combined, and resulting in 1 death every 20 seconds.”

As we read facts like these above, we realized how important our jobs are as cleaning professionals. World Toilet Day was a reminder to us that cleaning can save lives and protect us from diseases. We appreciate having private restrooms that protect us from issues that others are experiencing in the world. So next time you step into a restroom, be grateful you have one to use!